Today's Opinions

thumb DOWN to ... A CORPORATE RESPONSE. Last week, advocates for the union representing employees at Alta Vista Regional Hospital went to the administration office and presented a proclamation asking that the hospital negotiate with the employees. They took their message right to the hospital’s administrator, Richard Grogan.

They brought along a mop as a symbol of their desire to see a cleanup at the hospital’s parent company’s Tennessee headquarters and a chair to reflect the need for the hospital to sit down with the union.

For many, the approach of winter means weatherizing the home or stocking up on heating fuel to burn in the cold nights ahead. For others, it means finding a way to survive — and that’s where the generosity of our community comes into play.

The Las Vegas City Council has accepted a proposed new city charter from the Charter Commission, but the council may make some changes to the document before it’s submitted to voters, likely in the March 2 municipal election. The existing charter, which is essentially the city’s constitution, has been in force for nearly four decades and needs updating.

The commission performed well in its duty in come up with a better charter. The members decided to keep what works and change what doesn’t.

The finding of the State Auditor that Mora School District misspent some $64,000 is obviously appalling. Worse yet, it indicates that the system of governance used by Mora must have failed three times simultaneously in order for this to have happened.

Social Security is an immensely popular program. After all, we as Americans believe that everyone should have an economically secure retirement.

But sometimes we need to curtail this program’s spending so as to ensure its survival for future generations.

To their credit, President Reagan and his Democratic rivals got together during the 1980s to take steps to keep the Social Security fund solvent. They increased payroll taxes to make that happen — not a politically palatable choice but absolutely essential.

thumb DOWN to ... A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT? The Mora school district deserves much criticism for its use of a big slush fund to the detriment of education. And we’ve joined in that chorus.

But what about area state lawmakers who accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from the district, which serves one of the poorest areas in New Mexico? The primary recipients were Sen. Phil Griego and Reps. Thomas Garcia, Richard Vigil and Andrew Barreras.

It has come to our attention that Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons is proposing to trade the Aspen Hill portion of Unit 48 to the Stanley Ranch and The UU-Bar Express Ranch in exchange for some unusable and undesirable parcels of land. This is his third attempt at compromising the sportsmen and women of Northern New Mexico in exchange for favor among the ranching population.